The Holy District

45 “When (A)you allot the land as an inheritance, (B)you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits[a] long and 20,000[b] cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. (C)Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for (D)an open space around it. And (E)from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, (F)in which shall be the sanctuary, (G)the Most Holy Place. (H)It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. (I)Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.[c]

“Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district (J)you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. (K)It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

(L)“And to (M)the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And (N)my princes shall no more oppress my people, but (O)they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

“Thus says the Lord God: (P)Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease (Q)your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

10 (R)“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.[d] 11 The ephah and the bath shall be (S)of the same measure, (T)the bath containing one tenth of a homer,[e] and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 (U)The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;[f] twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.[g]

13 (V)“This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor[h] (the cor, like the homer, contains (W)ten baths).[i] 15 And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, (X)to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. 16 All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. 17 (Y)It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

18 “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, (Z)on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and (AA)purify the sanctuary. 19 (AB)The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it (AC)on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

21 (AD)“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince (AE)shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. 23 And on (AF)the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and (AG)a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24 And (AH)he shall provide as (AI)a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin[j] of oil to each ephah. 25 (AJ)In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, (AK)he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 45:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  2. Ezekiel 45:1 Septuagint; Hebrew 10,000
  3. Ezekiel 45:5 Septuagint; Hebrew as their possession, twenty chambers
  4. Ezekiel 45:10 An ephah was about 3/5 of a bushel or 22 liters; a bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters
  5. Ezekiel 45:11 A homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters
  6. Ezekiel 45:12 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram
  7. Ezekiel 45:12 A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram
  8. Ezekiel 45:14 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters
  9. Ezekiel 45:14 See Vulgate; Hebrew (ten baths are a homer, for ten baths are a homer)
  10. Ezekiel 45:24 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters

The holy portion

45 When you distribute the land as an inheritance, you will set aside a holy portion of land for the Lord. It will be 7.1 miles long and 5.68 miles[a] wide. It will be holy throughout the entire area. Out of this portion, an area seven hundred fifty feet by seven hundred fifty feet square will be for the sanctuary. All around it will be an open space seventy-five feet wide. Beginning with this measurement, you will measure out an area 7.1 miles long and 2.84 miles wide. The sanctuary, the most holy place, will lie on it. It is holy, set apart from the land, and it belongs to the priests who draw near to minister in the Lord’s sanctuary. It will be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary. The area 7.1 miles long and 2.84 miles wide will be for the Levites who minister in the temple. Twenty chambers are theirs as their property. As the property for the city, you will set aside an area 1.42 miles wide and 7.1 miles long next to the holy portion. It will be for the whole house of Israel. The territory for the prince will be on both sides of the holy portion and the city property, alongside the holy portion and alongside the city property, from their western boundaries westward and from their eastern boundaries eastward. Its length will equal one tribal portion, from the western border to the eastern border. The land will be his property in Israel, and my princes will no longer oppress my people. They will give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

The Lord God proclaims: Enough, princes of Israel! Turn aside from violence and oppression. Establish justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people! This is what the Lord God says: 10 You must use fair scales, a fair ephah,[b] and a fair bath.[c] 11 The ephah and the bath must be the same size. Both should be calibrated to the homer: each will contain one-tenth of a homer. 12 The shekel must weigh twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels will equal one maneh for you.

Sacrificial offerings and gifts

13 These are your prescribed contributions: one-sixth of an ephah for each homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah for each homer of barley; 14 a regular amount of oil,[d] one-tenth of a bath for each kor[e] (each kor[f] contains ten baths); 15 and one sheep from the flock for every two hundred from Israel’s pastureland, for grain offerings, for entirely burned offerings, and for well-being sacrifices to make reconciliation for them. This is what the Lord God says. 16 All the people will make this contribution on behalf of the prince in Israel. 17 The prince will be responsible for the entirely burned offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the festivals, new moons, and sabbaths, all the appointed festivals of the house of Israel. He will offer the purification offering, the grain offering, the entirely burned offering, and the well-being sacrifice to make reconciliation on behalf of the house of Israel.

Festivals

18 The Lord God proclaims: On the first day of the first month,[g] you will take a flawless young bull from the herd, and you will purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest will take some of the blood from the purification offering, and he will set it on the doorposts of the temple and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the doorposts of the gate to the inner courtyard. 20 You will do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins through inadvertence or ignorance. So you will purge the temple. 21 Your Passover will be on the fourteenth day of the first month. Unleavened bread will be eaten during the seven days of the festival. 22 On that day, the prince will provide a young bull as the purification offering for himself and for the people of the land. 23 For the seven days of the festival, he will provide seven flawless bulls and seven flawless rams, one for each day of the festival, as the entirely burned offering for the Lord, and, for the purification offering, one male goat for each day. 24 He will also provide the grain offerings, one ephah[h] for each bull, and one ephah for each ram, with one hin[i] of oil for each ephah. 25 For the festival that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month,[j] he will make the same provisions for the purification offerings, entirely burned offerings, grain offerings, and oil, for all seven days of the festival.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 45:1 LXX twenty thousand (pechon, standard cubit); MT ten thousand (ammah); see note at Ezek 40:5.
  2. Ezekiel 45:10 One ephah is approximately twenty quarts of grain.
  3. Ezekiel 45:10 One bath is approximately twenty quarts of liquid.
  4. Ezekiel 45:14 Syr, Tg; MT adds a bath of oil.
  5. Ezekiel 45:14 MT adds each homer contains ten baths.
  6. Ezekiel 45:14 Vulg; MT homer
  7. Ezekiel 45:18 March–April, Nisan
  8. Ezekiel 45:24 One ephah is approximately twenty quarts of grain.
  9. Ezekiel 45:24 One hin is approximately equal to one gallon.
  10. Ezekiel 45:25 September–October, Tishrei